While everyone was consumed with the ADCC World Championships in Anaheim this past weekend, not far down the highway in Torrance saw a flurry of online e-commerce activity. On Sunday, Rener Gracie and his Quikflip Hoodie had the rare opportunity to be Amazon’s ‘Deal of the Day’, completely selling out inventory and exceeding expectations even after a bullish forecast from their recent Shark Tank appearance.
What took place on Sunday broke not only sales records for Quikflip, but Amazon records as well. Rener was given the opportunity to live-stream his product not unlike an infomercial via Amazon’s online platform, much like other Deal’s of the Day in the past. Streams typically garner around 3 to 5 thousand views, Rener’s exceeded 198k, shattering previous records and officially becoming the biggest Livestream in Amazon history. Hoodies were being sold at a never-before-offered 30% discount and completely sold out, forcing the company to bring on extra labor in the coming days to help pack boxes for shipment. Roughly 50,000 hoodies were shipped out in one week alone, stacking the warehouse in Torrance to the ceiling and forcing the company to hire 13 extra employees to meet the orders.
Earlier this year Rener accepted an offer on ABC’s Shark Tank with Lori Greiner for 10% of the company, bringing on board a veteran in the infomercial and direct-to-consumer space. It’s safe to say that outside of the jiu-jitsu realm, few people knew about just how well Rener can hang with the best of them in moving product. Through the Shark Tank and now Amazon endeavor, the sky is the limit for this clothing apparel company that has it’s roots firmly embedded in jiu-jitsu.
